Sheila Heidmarch (Sihedron Rising)
Sheila Heidmarch reveals what she knows - and suspects - about the appearance of the Shards. Section heading Sheila Heidmarch seems to weigh her words carefully… “Your friend Brodert is correct more often than even he realizes. Little is truly known of ancient Thassilon - we know that the foundations of how we practice and study magic was developed during that period, that the empire was broken up into seven nations, each led by a Runelord whom, over time, has become associated with seven of the eight schools of magic, as well as with the virtues of leadership perverted into vices of sin. Even that is regarded more as folklore than as history, but I have come to learn that it was in fact quite real.” “It seems odd, no doubt - cliched, even - but cliches must be born somewhere, from something, and indeed the seven Runelords defined their respective vices even moreso than they did their magical arts, so much so that it became a way of life for them, for their people… or at least those wealthy enough to indulge in sorts, those whom were not slaves or worse.” She pauses, frowning a moment, clearly considering what to say next - or perhaps, what not to say… finally she motions towards the brooch worn by Ezra. “What do you know of the Sihedron? Not the image, but the construct itself? There is a reason, after all that their are seven points - the seven schools, the seven virtues, the seven vices - but those seven did not come together to make a whole. Quite the opposite, they are the shattered fragments of the whole. Of the entirety of magical understanding, of what makes a truly great leader, of what sins corrupt and eat away at us all. So too do the Runelords themselves come from something greater.” As she spoke, she circled the room, her steep slow and measured… you got the sense that it was a habit, one developed when plotting her path through history, or navigating her way through a discussion. “From what I have been able to discover, there was a man known only as ‘Xin’ who was the first and only true ruler of Thassilon. Whether his reign lasted a hundred years or ten thousand I cannot know - almost nothing is written of him and what is fragmented at best. We know he had a fascination with creation, particularly items of great magic - the wonders of Xin are often mentioned or alluded to in ancient texts. We also know that those we know of as the Runelords, they were first his disciples. His pupils. They plotted against him, and in a moment when he was at his weakest, when he was forging his greatest creation and all of his magics were tied up in its birth, they struck. Xin was destroyed, the magic within him absorbed fully by the artifact he’d been forging - and not just his magics, but also his intent for the artifact to serve as a conduit for all that might make one great, to focus within a soul the seven virtues of rule he’d held so dear.” “That artifact was the Sihedron, a seven pointed star, forged from seven different skymetals, substances so rare that they are only found when they fall from the heavens like stars. The Sihedron was immensely powerful, but still fragile in its infancy, and each of the Runelords knew that if any of them claimed it they would be able to lord over the others, as Xin had. Too they knew if left anywhere, secreted away, each would seek to obtain it for themselves… so instead they had it broken apart, torn asunder, and each took a shard of it so that it could never be reforged whole.” “From what histories I have seen, the fragmentation of the star appears to have perverted its energies, twisting those virtues and the souls that held them into something darker. I believe it was the Sihedron torn apart that led to the Runelords falling prey to their individual vice, one by one. They were doomed the moment each claimed their shard of the whole, though it took millennia for that doom to take root and destroy the whole of the Empire.” “In all my studies, in all my travels I had presumed that the Shards were gone forever, lost like so much in the Earthfall… I had hoped to learn enough to perhaps one day forge the artifact anew myself, to serve as a beacon for all mankind…” her eyes glazed over, as if looking into a future not yet discovered, before she shook her head and her mouth twisted into grimace, “but I always knew that to be a false hope, a fool’s hope. Such magics are from an age of legend, and I doubt we shall ever reach that pinnacle again.” “What I did not expect, even for a moment, was that the fragments of the Sihedron might be found once more… not until you came into my parlor and showed me what you had found in Thistletop, what you had taken from Nualia whom in turn had received it from a demonic servitor of Alanzist imprisoned thousands of years ago. I could not believe it, could not even allow myself to believe it… and then you found another.” Her steel gaze takes each of you in in turn, her expression resolute. “I do not believe in coincidence, that these artifacts are surfacing, reappearing in the hands of those who’s natures best suit their perverted nature. I feel this is a harbinger of something, something much greater… something we need to prepare ourselves for, perhaps prepare the whole of Varisia for. Who knows what damage Nualia might have wrought fi you had not interceded before she could fully gather her forces? Who knows what corruption that thing Foxglove had become could have sewn… and why now does it seem that souls infected with Greed are being harvested as they are?” “The Pathfinder Society is dedicated to the discovery of ancient knowledge above all else, but that knowledge must have a purpose. Until we know what we are facing, until we know what needs to be done to protect ourselves from it, my sole intent is to discover what remaining shards we are able to find. To root them out of whatever ruins they might lie in wait, before they can find their way into the hands of someone who might unlock even a portion of their power, fall prey to their influence and bring destruction down upon us all.” Category:Exposition